Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Election 2008: USA Today Seeks Student Opinions

Jim Williams of the MTSU American Democracy Project says,

"USA TODAY encourages MTSU students to voice their opinions to the editor of the newspaper for a special edition that will appear NEXT WEEK, the first week of November."

So hurry up! Time is running out. See more details here: http://www.usatoday.com/educate/college/voices/gen_next.html

Monday, October 27, 2008

The Electoral College -- Pass or Fail?

Michael White, Archivist of the United States, explains his role in "administering the Electoral College process on behalf of the states and the Congress," as well as the history of the electoral college in this article from Prologue Magazine.

You know how it's a common joke that our electoral system is complicated and confusing? Remember the 2000 election? Here are some quotes from the above article, designed to further strike fear into the heart of the voter:

"... the incoming officials may not be well prepared to grapple with the stylized procedural language of the 19th century and some of the more arcane aspects of federalism."

"Too often, Federal Register attorneys would later have to track down bewildered bureaucrats who were surprised to learn that they had been given this task."

"There are more than a few things that can go wrong."

"It was not unusual for as many as half of the electoral votes intended for the Senate to be misdirected, which raised the stakes for the Federal Register to obtain the reserve set of votes for the Congress to act upon. "

The National Archives has created a guide to the U.S. Electoral College, which is designed to educate both the public and election officials on proper procedures. Keep your fingers crossed.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Free shuttle to early voting

MTSU employees and students are invited to hop on the Raider Voter Express bus for a free ride to the Rutherford County early voting location at the election commission on the courthouse square. Early voting begins Wednesday, Oct. 15, and continues through Thursday, Oct. 30.

Shuttle departures will be:

Thur, Oct 16--7:30 am
Fri, Oct 17--2:30 pm
Tues, Oct 21--5:00 pm
Wed, Oct 22--8:30 am
Mon, Oct 27--10:00 am
Thur, Oct 30--3:00 pm

All buses return 1 hour, 15 minutes after departure from campus. Buses depart from in front of the James Union Building and return to the same location. There is no need to make a reservation; just show up a few minutes before the scheduled departure time.Thanks to the Division of Business and Finance and the Office of Transportation and Parking for making this shuttle service available for this election. For a flyer with this information, visit www.mtsu.edu/~amerdem/shuttle.pdf.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Emergency closing, fall break library hours

Due to email threats to the campus, classes are cancelled as of noon on Thursday, October 9, and will resume after fall break on Wednesday, October 15. The library will close today, Thursday, at 4:30 p.m. Library hours for Friday, October 10 will be 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Fall break hours are as follow:
Saturday and Sunday -- closed
Monday, Oct 13: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct 14: 8 a.m. to midnight.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Need Help? Get a Research Coach!

Do you have a big paper coming up? Do you need to find good quality sources (books, articles, websites), but don’t have a clue where to start? Or have you already tried looking but can’t find the right thing? The librarians at the MTSU Walker Library can help.

Schedule a Research Coach appointment to receive 30 minutes of one-on-one help using the library resources to locate the sources you need to ace your paper.

Research CoachWhen: October 6-10, 15-17
Appt Times: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday-Thursday; 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Friday
Call: Gwen Williams at 904-8530 or email gwilliam@mtsu.edu

Tell Us: your name, telephone #, the course, and a little about the assignment
BTW
: You don’t have to schedule an appointment to get help. Stop by the Reference Desk on the first floor next to the computers to get research help anytime.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Voter Registration and Early Voting

The deadline to register to vote is Monday, October 6.

If you didn't get to stop by the library's voter registration table last week, you still have a chance to register on campus. The American Democracy Project will have a voter registration table outside Todd Hall on Thursday, Friday, and Monday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Voter registration forms are also available from the American Democracy Project at the Albert Gore Research Center in Todd Hall 128 during the center's normal hours (9 to 4). The ADP will deliver or mail your form by Monday's deadline. Answers to most questions about voter registration and voting (including a complete list of Rutherford County early voting locations and hours) can be found at www.mtsu.edu/~amerdem/mtsu_info.shtml.

Early voting is October 15-30. If you recently registered to vote, you should get your card by the beginning of the early voting period. This election is expected to draw large crowds, so it would be in your best interest to cast your ballot before Election Day on November 4. If you participate in early voting in Rutherford County, you must do so at one of the specified locations. To find out early voting locations in other counties, contact your county election commission. If you wait until November 4, you must vote at the location listed on your voter registration card.